


Meet Cute

by burntotears



Series: Criminal Husbands [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Grand Theft Auto Setting, Canon-Typical Violence, Fake AH Crew, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 05:43:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14664498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/burntotears/pseuds/burntotears
Summary: Ryan had always been looking for his place with a good crew and he knew how to take advantage of a situation.





	Meet Cute

**Author's Note:**

> Small use of a prompt blog on tumblr: Suddenly, you hear alarms go off in the bank as a group of masked men start shouting at everyone to get on the ground. You grip your backpack filled with money tighter and hope they don’t learn you already robbed this place blind with no one noticing.

Ryan’s first run-in with the Fake AH Crew went almost nothing like he’d expected it to. He’d been profiling them for a while, intrigued by the way they handled their business - notorious throughout Los Santos but still five ghosts with no names. They had resources and contacts that Ryan could sorely use and while being a lone wolf had some advantages, the luxury of someone watching your back was an undervalued commodity in this business. 

So imagine his surprise when the infamous five men flagrantly blew into the bank (a bit over the top if Ryan was the judge), waving guns around while announcing they were there to rob the place. The bank that Ryan was currently standing in, a backpack full of money he’d just cleared from that very safe.

He gripped the straps tightly as he dropped to the floor with the other patrons. He tugged his cap a bit lower over his eyes and watched as the men scattered to different areas of the bank, every person performing his own job with efficiency. He needed a chance to cut and run. When they found out that the money was gone, he didn’t want to be there to catch the blow-back. He valued his life more than he admired these men.

Sneaking out of the side door was his best bet, but the man clad in a brown leather jacket and fitted jeans was casing the lobby with well-trained eyes behind a dark grey wolf mask. This wasn’t going to be easy, but even as the fear coursed through him, the excitement pumped through his veins alongside it. Ryan lived for challenges like these.

He made his movements slow, making sure to keep himself as inconspicuous as possible while he inched closer to the exit. His moment came when men started to shout from the back rooms - no doubt they had found the money missing. The wolf was temporarily distracted which allowed Ryan to fully slip from view and into the dark alley. He was pleasantly surprised when he felt a gun press into his back just as he was rounding the corner to the backside of the bank. At least they lived up to their names.

“Get against the wall,” the voice commanded and he did as he was told. The man ripped the backpack from his shoulder and yanked the zipper open, a low whistle escaping his mouth. “Well, well… seems someone already did our job for us.” 

Ryan heard the quiet crackle of a comm in the other man’s ear, but he still couldn’t see who had caught him. The curiosity was killing him, but it seeped out quickly with his consciousness when he was hit over the head with something. The last thing he heard was the man saying, “got a problem” before he blacked out completely.

 

“You actually think we should just let him go?” an incredulous voice admonished, ripping Ryan out of the cold dark and back into reality. His hands were bound behind him, unsurprisingly, and the room was too bright for his eyes to focus immediately.

“I didn’t say that,” a woman’s voice responded. “I said we have no reason to kill him just because he outsmarted us.”

“Outsmarted is a bit much. Luck and convenience seem more appropriate here.”

Someone laughed derisively. “There’s no fucking way he managed that by being in the right place at the right time.”

When his eyes finally adjusted to the light, Ryan saw the five men standing around a table where his backpack sat like a trophy. He was bound to a chair at the head of the table like some fucked up guest of honor.

“Morning, sunshine,” a shorter man clad in gaudy purple and orange said, tapping Ryan on the shoulder with a baseball bat. “We were just talking about you.”

“I’m flattered,” Ryan replied, finding his voice was hoarse from disuse. “I certainly hope my good looks were the focal point of the conversation.”

“I don’t like this fuckwad.” Ryan’s eyes swiveled to meet a set of light brown eyes that frowned at him from behind a wolf mask. A pile of brown curls poked out atop the mask and he had the stupidly dopey thought of how he liked curly hair. He was probably drugged.

“You don’t like anybody, boi,” a man with a British accent responded, surprising Ryan. He was learning more about these men in five minutes than he had in the two years he’d followed their crew. 

There was no way they were going to let him live.

“I can understand your current antipathy. After all, I did manage to pull off your heist single-handed and in mere moments before you. That would make anyone a bit irritable.” His self preservation had not kicked in yet, it seemed.

The wolf mask mimed slapping him on the head, his eyes betraying a fiery fury that Ryan had only ever seen staring back at him in a mirror.

“Chill, Mogar. He’s cocky, sure, but he’s also right. We shouldn’t have been outplayed by one dude with the fashion sense of a middle-aged dad in the suburbs.”

Ryan frowned. “There’s really no reason to make such low blows, even in a situation such as this. I’ll have you know that when I’m not undercover as a normal civilian bank-robber, I am actually a nefariously well-known criminal in Los Santos.”

A few of them started to laugh. He shouldn’t have been too surprised at that reaction. He probably seemed terribly non-threatening in his faded jeans and t-shirt, baseball cap, and long blond hair pulled back into a quintessential I.T. ponytail. 

“What? You don’t believe me?” he looked at each masked man in turn. If he told them the truth, they might just kill him. If he didn’t, they might just kill him. His options weren’t looking stellar at the moment. He bulked up his shoulders and summoned all the confidence he could muster. “Ok, here’s what is going to happen. I will tell you who I am, you’ll be considerably impressed, then you’ll invite me to join your crew. Call it a trial run? If I don’t prove to be useful then you can kill me and you won’t have to worry about me ever again. What do you think?”

“Is this tosser serious?” the Brit laughed, though he was only one of two who did. He looked around in surprise. “Uh… you’re not considering this, are you?”

The female shrugged. “I am. He outplayed us. I want to know how.”

The man in formal attire spoke up. “How about you tell us who you are first and then we’ll consider whether you get to live or not.”

Ryan shrugged. “I feel like my chances aren’t great in any scenario here, so it’s best to play to my strengths. I’m Vagabond.”

There was a wolf whistle, a laugh, and a cough of surprise. “Bullshit!” the shortest man blurted out, shaking his head. “He’s fucking full of it!”

The man in the wolf mask was stock still and serious as he continued to stare Ryan down. “He’s telling the truth. It isn’t like lying would keep him alive longer.” He was no fool, Ryan would give him that.

“Okay, and what do you gain by joining us?” the formal man asked.

“Resources, power, connections, reliability, a name for myself. The list is fairly extensive.”

“You’ve already made a name for yourself as being fucking insane. How will that benefit us?” the woman asked.

“How will it not? I’m known as being insane because I will do anything to get the job done. I’ve risked my own life for it. How is that not an asset?”

The wolf mask looked personally offended by the statement, but Ryan wasn’t certain why. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut over by the suited gentleman. “Okay, Vagabond, we’re going to convene to another room to discuss this. You sit tight.”

Ryan snorted in contempt. “I won’t go anywhere.”

He sat there in that chair for at least thirty minutes before they returned. When they entered the room again, they were maskless. Ryan stood up immediately, his bindings falling to the floor uselessly and the blond with the British accent threw his hands into the air. “You’re having a laugh!”

The woman laughed in earnest, though, and extended her hand to him. “I’m Jack. You could call me the babysitter around here.”

“Nice to meet you, Jack. I’m Ryan.” He took her hand in a firm shake with no surprise when she gripped his hand firmly.

A man with a mean looking mustache approached him next. “Geoff. I tell everyone what to do.”

Next was the short man in the appalling assortment of orange and purple. “Jeremy. It’s cool to meet you, Vagabond. I’m just muscle really.”

Ryan nodded and turned his attention to the Brit. “How did you even?” he asked, still looking at the bindings on the floor. “I’m Gav. I make everyone else look good.”

“Right.” The only person who hadn’t stepped up to greet him was the brunette with the wild curls. He was perched against the wall with his arms crossed, staring Ryan down petulantly. The fullness of his face contradicted the fire that lived in his eyes.

“This prat is Michael, my boi. He’s a bit grumpy.”

“Shut it, Gavin,” Michael responded, though his eyes were still trained on Ryan.

“Alright then,” Geoff clapped his hands and leaned on the table. “Now that the introductions are out of the way, we want to know how you pulled off that money grab.”

 

Ryan didn’t make it two steps from the high rise apartment complex before he was being shoved up against the concrete wall by a forceful arm. He lifted his hands up in surrender, looking at Michael in earnest. Whatever problem Michael had with him was apparently private and he was interested to hear about it.

“Look, Haywood. Just because you’ve got the rest of them eating out of the palm of your hand doesn’t mean that I’m fooled.” The fire behind Michael’s gaze had returned and Ryan found he was unable to tear his eyes away from it. This man was untethered in a way that sent heat broiling inside Ryan’s chest. He wanted to know _more_.

“And what is it about me that you think you know better?” Ryan replied steady, though he might have betrayed his curiosity.

Michael eyed him with suspicion, but continued. “You with your gaudy vocabulary and your overblown ego. You’re a narcissistic, overconfident, deranged asshole who is only looking out for himself. That’s not what this crew is about. We’re a family. And nobody _fucks_ with my family, Vagabond.” The brunette pressed his forearm more harshly into Ryan’s chest for emphasis. “Do we understand each other?”

Ryan nodded slowly even as his heart began to beat like a drum in his chest. Michael was threatening him, but he felt exhilarated by it. “You never hesitate and while it might look like you’re just reckless, you actually have a fire inside of you that you haven’t been able to satiate. Your hate is cruel, but your love is even more ruthless.” He thought a moment before adding, “You’re an enigma.”

Michael’s jaw dropped slowly as Ryan spoke about him before he finally pushed hard against the man’s chest and backed away. “Who the fuck are you to tell me who I am? Stay outta my way, Haywood. I mean it.” The shorter man walked off without a second glance.

“I know you do. Goodnight, Michael,” he responded, still pressed against the cool concrete. He banged his head back lightly, waiting for his heart to settle to a normal rhythm again. “ _Fuck_ ,” he breathed quietly. 

This was exactly where he was supposed to be and he would be damned if anything separated him from the Fake AH Crew now.


End file.
